Assignment 3 examples

Example 01

The text that the lesson I am going to describe is based on is the biography of the British actress, Helen Mirren. It is an 

authentic text with the only function of giving factual information about the artist without expressing the writer's opinion.

Using a piece of material printed from Internet might remarkably boost students' confidence. 

Internet is used daily by lots of people all around the world and most of the information it provides is in English. An article 

like this biography is a kind of text students might want to read understand in real life. As Monreal claims:

"The use of authentic material motivates the students for several reasons:

- it offers variety and a break from the text book;

- it gives them the challenge of understanding 'real' English;

- students get a glimpse of the country and are prepared to cope with such materials if they visit Britain or the U.S.".

The topic of the article is suitable for adult learners also because the actress is part of the target culture. 

However, it may not be interesting enough for everybody in the class not only because it contains dry facts only, but also 

because students - who probably have not been living in the target community for a long time considering their level - might 

not know the actress.

according to Grellet "...one should start with global understanding and move towards detailed understanding rather than 

working the other way round". I tried to exploit this piece of reading material in the best way bearing this gradual approach

in mind.

I) A good way of establishing the context of the lesson would be a dynamic warmer activity using famous actors' names and 

film titles. Each student would be given a card either with the name of a film star (e.g. Marlon Brando, Julia Roberts etc.) or 

the title of the most famous film they starred in (e.g. The Godfather, Pretty Woman etc.) and should move around to find 

the person with the matching card. Once they find their partners, they would be given 3 minutes to tell each other what they 

know about the actor and the film.

I think this activity would be a good starting point for several reasons: it sets the general topic of the lesson, it activates 

students' knowledge about it and as it includes movement, it "wakes up" tired or passive students. Moreover, it is a good way 

of forming pairs for the following activities.

2) The next step would bring the class closer to the subject of the main activity of the lesson but without seeing the text. I 

would show students a photo of Helen Mirren taken from her most famous film "The Queen" without telling them anything 

about her. I would use the technique of eliciting to discover what students know about the actress. I would also ask them to 

imagine and predict some information about Mirren such as her nationality, the roles that she might have played and so on.

3)At this point I would hand out the text. Before the lesson I would prepare two versions of the article(A and B) with some 

missing words in each version, but students should not focus on the gaps at this stage of the lesson. Before reading the text I 

would tell the class to discuss in pairs what they expect the text to be about. For example they should understand that it is

the actress's biography. If they could not recognise her before, they could learn her name. The layout of the page should 

help students understand that the article comes from a website. On the basis of these ideas they should be able to predict 

what kind of information they will learn from the text (e.g. childhood, family, studies, career, roles etc.).

I think getting students to predict what the article is about is particularly useful because it helps them get familiar with the 

text and it can facilitate its comprehension.

4) Regarding the vocabulary contained in the article I would not consider it particularly difficult for intermediate learner. 

Most of the key vocabulary is related to acting such as 'auditioned', 'role', 'joined', 'performed', 'award' and 'stage' and I think 

students should be encouraged to figure the meanings out from the context whenever possible. If needed, I might use short 

defnitions and examples to clarify meanings. Meaning Check Questions might be useful as well:

role: "Did Helen Mirren play Cleopatra? Yes."

"Is Anthony and Cleopatra a role? No."

"Is Cleopatra a role? Yes."

joined: "Was Helen Mirren a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company before 1966?No."

"Did she become a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966? Yes."

Comprehension difficulties might emerge in relation to the titles the article is full of (e.g. revenger, seagull, faith healer, 

roaring, madness).

They are not essential to understand the article because most of the titles might be unknown in any language to people who 

do not have a particular interest in theatre. For this reason I would not spend time on pre-teaching them, but I would 

simply give students a glossary with short definitions.

5) The first reading task would be a skimming activity. I would set a time limit of 1 minute to skim the text without worrying 

about the gaps. Students should check if their predictions were correct and understand the general meaning of the text 

without focusing on details.

6) The second reading would be a pair work activity. In each pair one student would have text A and the other one text B. 

They should fill in the gaps by asking each other questions. For example:

A: "When was Helen Mirren born?"

B: "She was born on the 26th of July 1945."

B:"How old was she when she auditioned and was accepted for the National Youth Theatre?"

A:"She was 18."

The aim of this task is to practice scan reading. In order to answer their partner's questions students have to find specific 

information in the text.

7) Now that students the complete biography, another reading task would follow, this time for detail. I would give students 6 

titles, each one describing a paragraph of the article. The titles might be the following:

- Helen Mirren's early years;

- Her first steps on stage;

- Shakespeare and looking for success overseas;

- Back to Shakespeare - "Queen" for the first time;

- Two decades of growing success;

- "The Queen" of the cinema;

Matching the paragraphs with the most appopriate title requires a more careful reading and a full comprehension of the 

contents.

8) The last stage of the lesson would involve speaking. A suitable activity to provide learners with free oral practice based on 

the biography is role-play in pairs. In each pair one of the students would be a journalist working for a magazine. The other 

person might play the role of Helen Mirren, or if some students have a particular passion for cinema, they might also 

choose another film star they know well. After spending about 10 minutes on preparing realistic questions and aswers, the 

interviews might be acted out in front of the class. Depending on the students' personality and "spirit of adventure", it might 

be a funny way of ending the lesson.

Bibliography

- Grellet, F. (1999). Developing Reading Skills. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

- Montreal, M.E. (1983). "Authentic Reading Materials." Modern English Teacher"

- Robertson, C. - Acklam, R. (2000). Action Plan for Teachers.

London: BBC World Service.

Section 2 - Language Analisys

Grammar item: already

"When she was 20 she already had the role of Cleopatra in NYT's Anthony and Cleopatra."

1) a time adverb.

2) a mother gets home from work and sees her son playing videogames.

She asks: "Why aren't you doing your homework?" He replies: "I've already done it."

3) Used with the Present Perfect refers to an action that happened sooner than expected. Used with the Present Simple and 

Past Simple it emphasizes that a situation exists now or existed at a certain moment in the past.

4) CCQs:

Did Helen Mirren play the role of Cleopatra when she was 20? No.

Did she play the role of Cleopatra when she was younger than 20?

Yes.

Do we know when?No.

Is the fact that she played Cleopatra before she was 20 unexpected or unusual? Yes

5) A Timeline:

PAST Future

_____X________X_________________________________________________________________________________

________

/examples Category: Pronunciation

Problem area: Individual Sounds

Felipe’s most predominant pronunciation error occurs when encountering /ð/. He

generally pronounces it as /d/. The converse error also occurs, but not as frequently.

Examples:

Incorrect pronunciation:

Other /ˈʌ d.ər/ Then /den/ Bad /bæ ð/

Correct pronunciation:

/ˈʌ ð.ər/

/ ð en/

/bæd/

Why?

Felipe’s predominant error (replacing / ð / with/d/) has not been mentioned by

Kenworthy (1987), Kelly (2000) nor Coe (1987). However, Kenworthy (1987) has pointed out Spanish-speakers may

replace /d/ with / ð /. According to Coe (1987), / ð /

is not a phoneme or a near-phoneme in Spanish (particularly in Latin-American

versions of the language in which /θ/ is not customary).

Strategies

- The sound and pronunciation of /d/ and / ð / need to be compared and contrasted. For example, Kenworthy

(1987) has suggested drawing students’

attention to “the definite contact between tongue and roof of the mouth needed

as a starting position for /d/, and the sound’s quick release”.

- Underhill (1994) has suggested using pocket mirrors to draw learners’ attention to phoneme-related mouth 

movements. Being a visual learner, Felipe might

benefit from this (and/or diagrams, Underhill, 1994).

- Words containing the target phonemes could be the focus of a game of dominoes3

, for example, matching /d/, / ð/ 

and / θ/

Example 02

Gayatri Krishnan

CELTA-June 2013

Assignment 3: Skills-Related

Part1: Justification of material choice

For this Skills-related assignment, my choice of authentic reading material is “Few Places with Better Stories”. from Asian Geographic magazine (no 78 issue 1/2011, pages 30 and 35). As this magazine is widely read and it is also a popular TV channel, the students will be able to relate to it easily. I decided to use this article as I think it is appropriate for English Language learners at the Intermediate level. The article deals with photography which can be a hobby or passion for many adult learners and hence they can identify with the author. It is also biographical, as the author narrates his experiences, thus the reader can bond with the narrator. This topic has a universal appeal and is not culturally biased. The article also has contemporary relevance as the author blends photography with nature, as the world is desperate to conserve it. “One test for useful reading might be to check how far tasks reflect real life uses of the same text. If a text is used in class in ways that are reasonably similar to real life, it is likely that the task will be effective” (Learning Teaching, Third edition 2011, Jims Scrivener, Macmillan)

But, most of all, this entire article is perfect for a reading activity, as the topic enables great discussions/productive skill extensions.  

Part 2: Receptive skill task design 

Lead In:

I think a good starting point for this lesson would be playing a clip of underwater life from National Geographic archive.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSlFsbrUz2Q

Students are familiar with underwater life and the clip will help to set the context and situation. Students could first discuss with partners how they feel about the underwater photography. After eliciting some opinions and feelings, ask some additional, personalised questions like:

 “Have you seen underwater world at Sentosa?” 

“Would you like be an underwater photographer?”

“Would you like to go on an underwater expedition with the National Geographic team?”

Teacher elicits responses to set the context further.

Although there are plenty of new vocabulary items in the article, I think students would not have any significant difficulties in grasping the overall meaning of the text. I agree with Jeremy Harmer with reference to pre-teaching: “by giving them some or all those words we deny them (a chance to practice tackling authentic texts)” (Harmer -203). In my perspective, students learn new words with reference to context which will enable them to grasp the word well. In this article, I would pre-teach key vocabulary, such as:

• photo-journalist

• decade

• motivate

• to fall in love

I would convey the meaning for the above words with the help of visuals, and CCQs. The rest of the vocabulary issues (which does not impede the set tasks) can be dealt with matching words with meaning or synonyms at the pre-reading stage.

I would use this article to practise skim reading. Though the article is lengthy, the first paragraph throws enough insight about the author. This enables a gist reading.

The gist reading task – 30 seconds: Appendix B

I would remind the students that gist reading is a skill that requires quick reading and ability to choose important information. “Skimming=Reading quickly for gist of a passage. A typical skimming task would be a general question from the teacher...” (Learning Teaching, Third edition 2011, Jims Scrivener, Macmillan)

Feedback: 1minute

A lesson without feedback “is teaching that proceeds forward without reference to what impact this is having on the learner’...” (Learning Teaching, Third edition 2011, Jims Scrivener, Macmillan)

For specific reading task or scanning skill, I would use a simple set of questions- 5 minutes (reading and answering): Appendix B. “You probably want tasks that encourage students to search for specific small sections of text which they can read more carefully to find a required piece of information……..Students doing this will be reading the material in a similar way to how people might read it in everyday life.” (Learning Teaching, Third edition 2011, Jims Scrivener, Macmillan)

For both the scan and skim reading activities, student would do a pair check of their answers before the teacher does feedback. 

The teacher flashes the answers for the gist reading on the screen (OHP) and for the scanning task, individual students could volunteer to discuss the answers. At this stage the teacher can feedback on how the students located the answers (sequence of information in the paragraphs, lead words, context etc).

“ A common scanning activity is searching for information….Although scanning is involved with finding individual points from the text….the way the reader finds the information involves some degree of processing of the overall shape and structure of the text…” (Learning Teaching, Third edition 2011, Jims Scrivener, Macmillan)

Part 3: Productive skill task design

I would use a writing task for productive skill. As the students have read about underwater life, I would set a guided task to write about the topic: 

“Your thoughts and feelings of underwater world”

 (Students are expected to write five sentences)

• Photos and pictures of marine life will be pasted around the classroom. Each picture/photo will carry a description/key words.

• Students will do a gallery walk, with a pen and a paper, to note the details and description they would like to use.

• They will return to their seats to write five sentences about underwater life and their feeling/sentiments.

• This task is for 15 minutes 

• At the end of the task, the writing from students will be pasted on the white board and the students can read each other’s and vote for the best.

 “Writing involves a different kind of mental process. There is more time to think, to reflect, to prepare, to rehearse, to make mistakes and to find alternative and better solutions” ...” (Learning Teaching, Third edition 2011, Jims Scrivener, Macmillan).

I would like to use writing activity because “ The need for longer formal written work seems to have lessened over the years, and this is reflected in many classrooms where writing activities are perhaps less often found than those for other skills” ...” (Learning Teaching, Third edition 2011, Jims Scrivener, Macmillan).

Part 4:

• A copy of the authentic task- appendix A

• The tasks you have designed- appendix B

• The answers to the task- appendix C

Appendix B

The gist reading task – 30 seconds:

 Answer the following questions with a “yes” or “no”.

a) Is this passage about a photographer? 

b) Is this passage about underwater life? 

c)  Is this passage about a school teacher?

1) Para 1: When did the author fall in love with the sea? 

2) Para 1: Why did the author become an underwater photographer and a photojournalist? 

3) Para 1: What brings greatest joy to the author? 

4) Para 2: According to the author, is the ocean dying? 

5) Para 3: What motivates the author most? 

6.) Para 4: Did the author swim with underwater animals? 

Appendix C

Answers key

Gist activity (skimming)

1. Yes

2. Yes

3. No

Specific reading (scanning)

1. as a child

2. He loved telling stories with pictures.

3. Photographs of nature.

4. Yes

5. The story

6. Yes

Bibliography:

Learning Teaching, Third Edition, Jim Scrivener, Macmillan, 2011

Harmer,J.The Practise of English Language Teaching, 3rd Edition, Longman, 2001 

Example 03

Assignment 3 – SKILLS

“Many children are growing up in an increasingly print-dominated world where , although they may learn to click on a computer mouse before they learn to turn the page of a book, reading is vital skill” (From “500 Activities for Primary Classroom” )

Selected Authentic Material

 A short article on Make your plate healthier, taken from “Saudi Gazette’s New Children’s Magazine” – April 30, 2008.

Justification for the Choice

Since my TP group comprised Arabic speaking adult elementary students, I thought it necessary to select a piece of material that should not only be   informative and entertaining, but also be in consonance with the interests and abilities of the students.  While doing this I followed the model that was demonstrated in the input session by Mr. Jonathan:

                         Information                     Enjoyment

Recipe

Visa form Newspapers Drama

Brochure Ads. Poetry

Sponsor’s un- Blurb Sports News

dertaking Magazines                        Personal letters

Though the article is from a children’s magazine, it is neither too easy nor too difficult for elementary level.  For adults, there is a challenge in it. As for the theme of this article, it deals with healthy food, and health is the concern of everybody in this era of information explosion.  Moreover, the students, while reading it, can enjoy themselves of words representing delicious tastes and beautiful colours of fruit and vegetables.

Reading Task (Receptive)

“Real-life purposes are not the only way of measuring the usefulness of classroom reading work.  Often we might want to train students in specific reading techniques or strategies, things that will help their future reading, even if the immediate classroom work doesn’t itself reflect a real-life purpose.” (Page-186, Learning Teaching – by Jim Scrivener)

Skimming and Scanning are the skills that need to be developed from the beginning at adult elementary level. Therefore, “many activities” says Jim Scrivener, “designed to increase reading speeds are variations on the two ideas – Skimming and Scanning” (Page-85, Learning Teaching – by Jim Scrivener).  Even in the input sessions, it was emphasized to not to miss two things – gist or general reading (skimming) and detailed reading (scanning).  Keeping this in view, the task that I have designed for reading activities covers these two cardinal aspects.

“Reading”, says Jeremy Harmer, “is an exercise dominated by the eyes and the brain.  The eyes receive messages and the brain then has to work out the significance of these messages.” (The Practice of English Language Teaching, Page-153). So the first activity in the task is to make students go through the passage quickly and circle the statement that is true about the whole passage.  This is in fact a practice for gist reading so that the students skim the text and make sure what it is about. There are four small paragraphs (without any headings) in the selected authentic material.  Each paragraph has some key words which give the student a clue what it is about – healthy and unhealthy types of food.  So, the students will have to read it from top to bottom to get the gist of the article that is there in one of the statement given for choice. 

The second activity focuses on reading for specific information and details so that the learners scan the text carefully to find the answers.  While doing this he performs top-down reading that affords him ample interaction with the text with a specified time.  “If this regularly done, the teacher will find the amount of limited time necessary becoming less and less.” (Page-153, The Practice of English Language Teaching). The article selected tends to give a good comprehension of what they should put on the plate at the time of eating besides attaining the scanning skill.   

Writing Task (Productive skill)

“Reading provides a scaffold for learning to write and it is frequently appropriate to teach reading and writing in an integrated way, both in the initial stages and when children have more developed skill”. (Page-49, Section 2, Reading and Writing, Book’s Name “500 Activities for the Primary Classroom)

On the basis of input sessions and guidance given for follow-up activity, a simple writing task has been designed for the elementary students.  At this level, the students are not prepared for any sophisticated writing activity.  So, they have been asked to write a small paragraph on “Healthy Food”.  However, a few prompts have been given to guide the students.

As after reading the passage, the learners will have got a lot of information about healthy and unhealthy food, they will definitely love to put it in a writing form.  Pair and group work will also make this task quite interesting. Error correction will also be a part of each activity to make it authentic as well. 

In short, by the end of these tasks, if well executed, the learners will have practiced both reading and writing well involving skimming and scanning, and some freer practice in writing skill as well.

Since this assignment requires a focus on the authentic material and the tasks, procedural details have been skipped.   

Books consulted:

1. Michael Swan and Bernard Smith (1998) Learner English, CUP

2. Colin Campbell/Hanna Kryszewska, (1992) Learner-based Teaching, OUP

3. Jim Scrivener, (2006), Teaching Learning, Macmillan 

4. Jeremy Harmer, (1998), The Practice of English Language Teaching, OUP

5. 500 Activities for the Primary Classroom (Section 2: Reading and Writing.

Websites:

http://esl.about.com/od/englishreadingskills/a/readingskills.htm

http://eslus.com/LESSONS/READING/READ.HTM

http://www.actstudent.org/writing/prepare/build.html